On a conference call with analysts after the numbers hit, CEO
Mark Fields took questions, and at the very end, was asked if
Ford is working on its own 200-mile-per-charge electric vehicle
to take on the Tesla Model 3 and the Chevy Bolt.

Fields danced around the question a bit in terms of specifics and
the timetable, but he didn't deny that Ford was working on
something.

"Absolutely," he said. "We want to be either among the leaders or
in a leadership position."

However, Ford hasn't yet made any product announcements on
this front. And Fields didn't go beyond laying out Ford's vision
for an electrified future.

He noted that Ford is investing $4.5 billion in electrifying its
vehicle lineup, with the goal of having "40% of out nameplates"
be electric around the world.

"We’re developing for that," he said.

So is Ford rushing a Model3/Bolt fighter to market? The answer is
a big "probably."

But even if Ford doesn't beat either Chevy or Tesla to market,
it's still far from incapable of introducing a 200-mile electric
car. It already has a 100-mile vehicle in the Focus EV.

The question is really, "Does Ford want to engineer a 200-mile
car from scratch, or expand on an existing vehicle?"

In any case, if GM can do it with Chevy, Ford can do it, too.
It's just a matter of timing.

That might be why Fields was diplomatic on the call. Ford would
prefer to let GM absorb the initial risk of jumping into the
longer-range EV market — because at the moment, with gas cheap,
electric cars aren't selling well. Sure, the Model 3 has 400,000
pre-orders, but many of those customers may simply want sa Tesla.
The electric part is part of the deal. And not all those
pre-orders will be converted into sales.